Aker Kvaerner Well Service has launched a 2 1/8-in. wireline tractor for use in slim-hole wells. The company already has a 3 1/8-in. wireline tractor, PowerTrac Advance. The new model is a scaled-down version of this tool. A tractor for use in open holes, the PowerTrac Invader, is also under development.
One of the main advantages of the new 2 1/8-in. tractor is its compact length - at 11 ft, it is a full 10 - 20 ft shorter than other available tractors. This was a priority when the tool was designed, says Gerald McInally, product champion, tractor and logging. There is often little space over the wellhead where the tool has to be rigged up (e.g., if tractor work is taking place on a platform where the rig is working on an adjacent wellhead, or if the tool-string to be conveyed by the tractor is relatively long). In such cases a longer tractor is not an option.
There are other slim-line tractors already on the market, but Aker Kvaerner Well Service is confident its tool will prove competitive. The company’s 3 1/8-in. tractor has an average uptime record of 98% and has recorded over 1,000 runs in-hole and over 3 million ft tractored in 2003-05, mainly in the Norwegian sector.
The new tractor has already been run successfully for Statoil. In another planned new Statoil field development, it will also be run in a multilateral completion. Since the wheels driving the tool lose contact with the walls where the side-bore diverges from the main bore, two tractors will be used in tandem. Once the leading tractor has been shunted into the side-bore, the upper tractor will be shut down and the lead tractor activated to proceed down the well.
The new tractor will be complemented by a 2 1/8-in. OD stroking tool (still under development) for moving sliding sleeves in slim smart well completions.
Outside Norway, the company has begun operations in the Middle East, and it will open an office in Houston later this year.•
